Billfold clip



F eb. 25, 1958 c. A. ANDERSON 2,824,590

BILLFOLD CLIP original Filedv May 25, l1955 F IG.6

INVENTOR. CARI. A; ANDERSON BY Jz/Ziwewwr ATTORNEY .United States Patent@ BLLFOLD CLIP Carl A. Anderson, Cranston, R. l., assignor to Anson Inc., Providence, R. I., a corporation of Rhode Island Original application May 25, 1953, Serial No. 357,253,

now Patent No. 2,785,722, dated March 19, 1957. D1- vided and this application August 22, 1956, Serial No. 605,656

3 Claims. (Cl. 150-38) This invention relates to improvements in bill fold clips and more particularly to the mechanical means which position the clip in open or closed position.

An object of the present invention is to provide mechanical means of a simple, inexpensive, fool proof and compact construction for retaining bills in a prearranged order and then be able to remove any single bill without disturbing the arrangement or order of the remaining bills.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a unique detent type mechanical arrangement which will yieldingly hold the bill fold clip in selected position.

Other objects of this invention will become apparent in part and be pointed out in part in the following specification and claims.

This invention is an improvement over United States Patent No. 2,597,967 issued May 27, 1952, and Canadian Patent No. 487,001 issued October 7, 1952, for a Bill Fold and is a division of Serial No. 357,253 tiled May 25,

1953, and issued March 19, l957, as Patent No. 2,785,722.

The present invention differs from the patents cited in that the spring, the parts actuated by the spring and the housing holding the spring and associated parts form a detent construction.

Similar reference characters designate similar parts in the several views, in which:

Figure l is a front elevational view of a bill fold containing the new and improved bill fold clip.

Figure 2 is an end view of Figure l.

Figure 3 is a side view in section of the bill fold clip, with the clamp shown in full lines in closed position and the clamp shown in dot and dash lines in `open position.

Figure 4 is a left hand end view of Figure 3.

Figure 5 is a side view in section of a modified form of the bill fold clip showing two clamps instead of one clamp.

Figure 6 is a fragmentary plan view of one of the ears used for securing the housing to the body.

Figure 7 is a right hand end view of Figure 3.

Referring to Figures l and 2 the improved bill fold clip consists of a bill fold 10 generally fabricated from leather and folded to form a U-shaped bend in which is secured the bill fold clip assembly 11. This arrangement is well known in the art.

The bill fold clip assembly 11 consists of a housing 12 generally U-shaped, see Figures 2 and 4. A body 13 shaped to be accommodated in the U of housing 12, is undercut to provide an end wall 14 and an underside 15. Two sets of ears 16 and 17 are formed in housing 12 and they secure body 13 in position within housing 12. A plunger 18 is slidably mounted in the chamber 20 formed in the undercut between underside 15 and housing 12. Body 13 is shorter in length than housing 12 so that housing 12 extends beyond end 21, thereby providing an area in which the projection 22 of plunger 18 may freely slide. Projection 22 is provided with a face 23.

afentd Feb. 2s, 195s lice Y A single clamp 24 is pivotally mounted by means of pin 25 in housing 12 with the cam surface 26 on linger 24 abutting face 23. Clamp 24 is preferably ornamental in shape having a knob 27 and linger grip 28 for utility purposes. A coil spring 30 is located in chamber 20 between end wall 14 and side 31 of plunger 18.

ln operation, clamp 24 is yieldingly held against surface 32 of body 13 by means of plunger 18, under the influence of spring 30, acting against cam surface 26.

Figure 5 depicts a modified form of Figure 3 in that two lingers 24 and 24A are employed in place of one linger 24. In elfect Figure 3 is merely reduced in size to provide two spring actuated plungers 18, 18A in place of one spring actuated plunger 18. Housing 12 is provided with opposite ends similarly constructed. Body 13 has two undercuts instead of one, leaving a wall 33 for the springs 30 and 30A to abut. The two plungers 18 and 18A are slidably mounted in chambers 20, 20A respectively. The operation of the mechanism is the same for Figure 6 as for Figure 3 except that two lingers 24, 24A rest on surface 32 instead of one linger 24.

In the constructions as shown in Figures 3, and 5, lingers 24 and 24A must be yieldingly constructed so that they can be pivoted to open position as shown by the dot and dash positions in Figure 3.

A decorative member 41 may be used to cover the U bend in the bill fold 10 and serve the utilitarian purpose of squeezing the bill fold 10 tightly around housing 12. An adhesive may be employed to insure securety of binding of the bill fold 10, bill fold clip 11 and decorative member 41 into a single unit.

Having shown and described preferred embodiments of the present invention, by way of example, but realizing that structural changes could be made and other examples given without departing from either the spirit or scope of this invention.

What I claim is:

1. In a billfold of the type having covers interconnected by a hinge about which said covers may be swung to and from open and closed position and a spring clamp for retaining bills therein, that improvement in said spring clamp which comprises a housing secured at the hinge, said housing being generally U-shaped and provided with a plurality of ears, a body formed to be accommodated in the U-shaped housing and be secured in said housing by said ears, said body being undercut to provide an end wall and an underside which form a chamber with said housing, a plunger provided with a face, a side and a projection, slidably mounted in said chamber, a coil spring located in said chamber between said end wall and side of said plunger, a clamp provided with a cam surface pivotally mounted in said housing with said cam surface abutting said face of said plunger.

2. In a bill fold of the type having covers interconnected by a hinge about which said covers may be swung to and from open and closed position and a spring clamp for retaining bills therein, that improvement in said spring clamp which comprises a housing provided with a chamber in opposite ends, a spring clamp pivotally mounted in each chamber, a spiral spring located in each chamber with one end of each spring secured to said housing and the other end of each spring secured to the clamp located in the same chamber.

3. In a bill fold of the type having covers interconnected by a hinge about which said covers may be swung to and from open and closed position and a spring clamp for retaining bills therein, that improvement in said spring clamp which comprises a housing secured at the hinge, said housing being generally U-shaped and provided with a plurality of ears, a body formed to be accommodated in the U-shaped housing and secured in the housing by said ears, said body being undercut on opposite ends to t E Y f 4 provide a center wall, two chambers formed one each said housing with one of said cam surfaces abutting the between the undercut and the housing, two plunger-'sV ea'ch 'face o'f the re'tectiv' `p'ilu'iig'r'w". provided with a face, a side and a projection, one

plunger slidably mounted inY each -chamber, two coil References Cited in the le of this patent springs, one each located in each chamber between the 5 UNITED STATES PATENTS center wall and the side ofthe plunger in the same cham'- 

